reims
Sitting here listening to Liz Story’s delicate piano constructions float through the room… Today was the day at work when we’d have “the talk;” i.e. the meeting in which I’d find out their plans for my job at the end of my three-month contract. Turns out they want to “extend” my contract for another three months, and while it’s nice to have steady and fulfilling work, job security is a highly-prized commodity as well. I told my supervisor as much, among other things, but the decision was rendered from on-high, as it were, and he was just a messenger. He’s been pleased with my work of late and wants me on board, but the upper management is less committal. It’s frustrating. In the meantime, buoyed by a more concentrated focus on something I’ve (re)discovered I have a gift for, industrial design, I’m sharpening my job search.
These designs recently went over quite well. The company that represents Nokia is interested in three and have commissioned some Photoshop work to show the displays in a store environment. I think their success is mainly derived from the fact that the company’s aesthetic (simple, clean forms and textures) coincides with my current (low) skill level with the modeling program used to create the images. Heh.
Luke’s third birthday was today. He received a huge solar system puzzle from his Nana (my mom) and a magnetic letters set from Diane and myself. We had the small family party this evening and shared a cookie cake. The large extended family party is this weekend at Tanglewood, a large local park.
The ability of stereotypically scientific concepts and terminology to relate to and explain philosophical ideas has always interested me. Take entropy: the law which postlates that systems within the universe will always tend to progress from a place of order to a place of disorder (the child’s bedroom being the classic example–messes do not clean themselves up; they require an infusion of energy to neaten). The concept is key to the second law of thermodynamics and is fundamental in scientific circles, and yet it handily parallels the degeneracy of the human condition, the way civilizations’ mores decline over time to their present level, among other downward trends.
Another scientific/engineering concept that has correlations to non-scientific life is negative static stability, or the requirement of a system for conscious constant correction to maintain equilibrium (visualize backing up your car at a high speed–you need a steady hand on the steering wheel because it is not self-centering when the car is in reverse, requiring constant small corrections to stay on track). Our lives as believers are much the same way–they require constant vigilance and discipline, supplied by His grace, to be productive and fruitful toward His ends. Untended and idle they will slide into laziness of mind and perhaps unconsciously fall prey to a deviant idea or viewpoint. It takes mindfulness to walk the tightrope between the extremes.
Negative static stability…
That almost makes me nostalgic for class where phrases such as “proportional feedback control” or “nerual network confidence interval” were commonplace. Keep writing – I enjoy reading.